


growing pains

by vivevoce



Series: could've gone worse [5]
Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: M/M, Oblivious Otabek, Oversharing Is NOT Caring, Painful Amounts of Awkwardness, Puberty, So Very Unhelpful, So Well Intentioned, Victor Attempts To Adult and Shockingly Succeeds, Yuri Just Wants The Suffering To End
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-11
Updated: 2017-03-11
Packaged: 2018-09-30 06:56:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,969
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10156763
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vivevoce/pseuds/vivevoce
Summary: The worst is when Yuri accidentally knees him in the balls while cuddling, unused to his much longer limbs. Otabek desperately inhales like a dying man and part of Yuri’s soul withers to dust.“Just break up with me already,” Yuri mutters.“No,” Otabek stubbornly wheezes, lying face down.





	

**Author's Note:**

> i practically got flashbacks while writing this, because puberty is the WORST and i'm so happy to be fuckin 22 and Not Dealing With That Anymore
> 
> these two are so lucky that they're not girls

* * *

 

“... and I still have scars,” Otabek finishes, before turning to look at a captivated Yuri. Well. Less captivated, more horrorstruck. “But don’t worry. I’m sure you’ll be fine.”

“It hurt for _how_ long?”

“Just a few months,” Otabek shrugs. “It’ll be fine.”

 

::

 

"Victor?" Yuri shuffles nervously into the rink, his pride making him stick to a low whisper. "I need some... advice."

Victor Nikiforov, living legend, 5-time World Champion, and card-carrying adult, drops his phone to squeal in pure delight. 

"I need to document this," he gushes, only for Yuri to hurriedly wave his arms and scan the entire rink in humiliation. Taking pity on him, Victor refrains and puts on a serious face. Let it not be said that Yuuri didn't have his influence on him. "What's the problem, Yurio?"

"Don't call me that," Yuri snaps automatically, before sighing and waving Victor in closer. Victor blinks, and allows Yuri to whisper a very long question into his ear. His eyes widen. 

"OH. Oh... Uhm. That's..." Awkward. Is it possible to un-hear this? "Very normal, Yurio. You're a growing boy. If it bothers you, you could go to your doctor?"

"Are you sure?" Yuri mumbles. "I've seen pictures of you at 17. You never had any problems."

Victor shakes his perfect hair with a flourish. "Well, Yurio, as we both know, I tend to be more of the exception than the rule." Ugh. True. Annoying but _true._

"Okay, thanks." Yuri is blushing furiously, looking like he'd rather be anywhere but here. "For not being weird about it. You were kind of my last resort."

"You're welcome," and Victor actually smiles kindly for once. "I'm actually surprised you didn't go to Otabek. He's closer to your age, I'd say."

“I can’t fucking TALK to him about this,” Yuri hisses suddenly, looking very haunted. Victor only blinks in amazement.

“That’s a first. You talk to Otabek about _everything._ ”

“Yeah, but not about this.”

At his befuddled expression, Yuri takes a long suffering breath and starts to explain.

 

::

 

The problem was this: Otabek was either one extreme or the other when it came to puberty. 

On the one hand, he was one of those people who basically _won_ the puberty game. He came out on the other side with a flattering haircut, clear skin, and this infuriating ability to always smell nice regardless of the situation. Otabek was worse than Victor, which was _saying_ something. And because of this, he can’t relate to Yuri. Not with his sudden need to apparently wear 3 times as much deodorant as before. Not with his appetite that rivaled a hibernating bear’s. And certainly not with the truly humiliating amount of acne treatment products he’s been bullied by Lilia into using.

On the other hand, Otabek also had all these one-in-a-million horror stories that provided absolutely 0 comfort to Yuri. Because Otabek’s _seen some shit._ Shit like stretch marks so livid that one time, while he was changing in the locker room, concerned rink-mates asked if he'd fallen into a box of scissors. Shit like a sex drive that shot through the roof, so that he started popping boners… **everywhere**. In mosques. During family functions. In the middle of a _competition_.

"God _damn_ Otabek had it rough.” 

“You’re telling me," Yuri agrees solemnly. Victor's still pinching the bridge of his nose to block out the images.

"Yeah, just... just come talk to me or Yuuri if you have any questions. Jeez."

 

::

 

To make matters worse, all Otabek has to do is EXIST to make Yuri’s life significantly harder (pun intended). Asides from making him feel extremely gross and awkward and gangly in comparison, Otabek is _hot,_ and Yuri’s amped up hormones definitely take notice. It was bad. One time, Yuri had to leave for the restroom just from watching Otabek drink from a water bottle.  
  
"Pathetic," he mutters to himself, before having vivid flashbacks to Otabek licking a droplet away from his lips as he swallowed, and promptly slamming the door to his stall closed in shame.

Because of this, Yuri has made _changes_ to their friendship. Namely, he’s started avoiding him. Much to Otabek’s hurt and bewilderment, Yuri nervously breaks off hugs before Otabek fully makes contact. He’s started leaving a foot of distance between them at all times. He won’t get on the motorcycle (the thought of being pressed up entirely against Otabek’s back with Yuri’s thighs around his hips causes actual pain). 

“It’s not you,” Yuri says one day, wincing both at his cliche words and how his voice cracks. He addresses Otabek’s ears instead of looking at his face.“It’s me. I’m… uh…”

“I understand,” Otabek says, resigned, very clearly not comprehending at all. “You need to focus on your skating. I can stop distracting you.”

 _Uh huh. Sure you can,_ Yuri thinks in defeat. “NO! I’m just… Puberty sucks and nothing makes sense and I feel weird all the time and…”  
  
Otabek looks so abjectly miserable that Yuri legitimately wonders if this is how a breakup would feel like. Before realizing that a) they weren’t dating, and b) Yuri had no intentions of ending anything.

"You're not doing anything wrong," Yuri reassures him in earnest. "I promise."

Apparently his blathering made sense because Otabek perks up a little. “Oh. Okay.” And then promptly launches into yet _another_ meant-to-be-reassuring-but-was-only-deeply-scarring story. Yuri wants to weep unmanly tears.

 

::

 

Eventually, Yuri’s extremely obvious crush makes itself known to Otabek, who… takes it super well, actually. He’s even blushing and everything. “Oh. I didn’t realize you felt that way.”

Yuri wants to fall into a hole. “Really? Because I’m amazed you didn’t figure it out sooner.”

“How could I? You literally just started avoiding me. I thought I did something wrong.”

“When could you _ever_ do anything wrong?”

“I don’t know? I’m too quiet. And serious. I thought you’d gotten bored.”

 _Oh my god, he's being serious._  

“How are you so smart and yet so _not_ at the same time?”

Otabek dimples at him and repeats "oh" in a smaller voice, and yup, there go those butterflies again. Yuri just gives up and slides his hands in Otabek's hair to kiss him. Less than a minute later he gets an erection, which luckily, Otabek only takes as a compliment.

 

::

 

Now that the gigantic crush is both acknowledged and reciprocated, Yuri discovers that making out with Otabek is  _so much fun._ Touching him without massive internal guilt is a massive aphrodisiac, so Yuri does it all the time now, and Otabek only further encourages it. In fact, Yuri almost manages to forget how just how terrible puberty is until it rears its ugly head again.

Yuri underestimates his size. A lot. He is 5’9” going on 5’10” at this point, and putting on muscle mass like it’s nothing. 

Back when Yuri was smaller than him, or when they were roughly the same size, he had to really work to overpower Otabek. They'd rough-house, which turned to play-wrestling after a certain point, and Otabek would let him win once in a while. Back then, Yuri would have to cheat or do something underhanded to get an edge. Nowadays, Otabek actually gets pinned. They'll be on the couch or on the floor, and Yuri will shift his weight a certain way, and boom.

Half of the time, it ends flirtatiously; with Otabek leaning up and nipping at his lips, before kissing down his newly acquired happy trail. Yuri likes that.

The other half of the time....

"I’M SORRY, I’M SORRY, IS YOUR HEAD OKAY?" Yuri whisper-shouts as Otabek lies there repressing the shit out of his own pain receptors.

"I'm... good..." Otabek attempts, in an utterly unconvincing tone. 

"Here, let me help you up."

"Yura, there's no need for two hands..."

"I'm only holding out one."

"... Oh."

"How many fingers am I holding up?"

"Seven?"

"Shit."

It's a hit or miss, really. (Literally.)

 

::

 

It is the least fun thing in the world to accidentally hurt your boyfriend. It is even less fun when he refuses to let you feel bad about it.

For instance, Yuri doesn’t realize that sitting on Otabek’s lap makes his legs go numb, until one day he gets up, and Otabek follows, and… promptly falls over. Yuri spends the next 10 minutes massaging the circulation back into them and fretting. Otabek only shrugs, like an _asshole_.

“It’s worth it,” Otabek insists, and Yuri just squeezes menacingly at his calf in revenge.

"I'm sitting on the floor," Yuri decides firmly and Otabek has the gall to sigh.

"At least sit _next_ to me," Otabek says, like it's a hardship. It's a fucking chair. Yuri can hardly believe the crap he's getting for being a considerate human being. 

"I meant to pull up another chair, Yura." 

"... Oh. Right. Sorry."

 

::

 

The worst is when Yuri accidentally knees him in the balls while cuddling, unused to his much longer limbs. Otabek desperately inhales like a dying man and part of Yuri’s soul withers to dust.

“Just break up with me already,” Yuri mutters.

“No,” Otabek stubbornly wheezes, lying face down.

As someone who both possesses balls as well as pain receptors, Yuri realizes that he’s severely underestimated just how much Otabek likes him. The thought is as comforting as it is alarming.

 

::

 

“There ARE no good sides to this,” Yuri groans one day, flopping onto his back with a heating pad for his knees. “My joints are shit, my balance is completely off, I’M ALWAYS HORNY AND HUNGRY. FUCK puberty.”

“There’s some good sides to it,” Otabek starts off, only to be interrupted by Yuri frantically slapping a palm over his mouth before he could think better of it. They both sit there awkwardly for a second, before Yuri hurriedly backs off.

“Sorry!”

“Uhm. What was that?”

“I didn't mean to! It was a reflex.”

“In response to _what_? You've never shushed me before.”

“In response to… to… UGH.” He's saying it, isn't he? “I don't need… _comforting._ ” Yuri painfully articulates.

Otabek blinks. “You don't?”

“No. I just want to whine and bitch sometimes, but it's okay, you don't need to…” Make it worse. “Share your own stories too.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah. I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking.”

“It's fine.” Otabek ponders him for a second, before asking suspiciously, “Why did you look so panicked?”

Damn it. “Because…” There is literally no plausible lie he can come up with. “Yourstorieskindofscaremeokay,” Yuri says all in a rush.

“They what?”

“They…” Yuri hides his face in pillow. “Freak me out,” he finishes, hoping to block out Otabek's disappointment.

“Oh. Oh, I see.” Oh no. That's Otabek's sad voice. “I didn't mean to. I can stop.”

Yuri is the worst person alive. “No, Beka, it's not your fault. You've just been through a lot of shit.”

“I was hoping the comparison would be comforting.”

“It's really, really not.”

Sheepish silence. Yuri lowers the pillow from his face to assess the damage. Otabek is staring down at the comforter with a wry twist to his mouth.

“I'm sorry,” Otabek explains. "I just didn't want you to feel alone." 

“Thanks," Yuri manages weakly. Otabek shakes his head in amusement.

“You know, on second thought? I can kind of see how it wouldn't be all that comforting.”

“Oh THANK GOD.” Yuri sags in relief, before throwing the pillow aside to hug him. Otabek squeezes back tightly.

“I'll stop. But really though. Puberty isn't ALL that bad,” Otabek continues. Yuri straight-up glares.

“Seriously, name one thing that makes any of this worth it.”

In lieu of answering, Otabek breathes on his ear and splays warm fingers across Yuri’s stomach, thumb smoothing absently down Yuri’s abs. Yuri feels all the blood in his body immediately rushing south, as usual. "That. All the time. In a committed relationship where you can actually _do_ something about it."

“Fuck, you've convinced me."


End file.
